Iraqi forces in the southern province of Maysan have intensified their deployment in the last week after obtaining intelligence that suggests that car bombers have infiltrated the province.
A security source told Slogger that Iraqi police were responding to a report that four cars were reported to have entered the province on Monday morning of last week.

Iraqi Army and Police forces “have increased the heaviness of their deployment,” the source said, adding that security measures put in place in response to the alert included searches at provincial borders, increased patrols in busy areas, as well as blocking vehicle traffic altogether in some main streets of central Amara, including Baghdad Street and Tigris (Dijla) Street in the city center.”

Meanwhile, Maysan’s Governor Muhammad al-Sudani announced that local security officials have moved to impose further controls over the provincial border with Dhi Qar Province to the west after a bombing attack in that province that killed dozens earlier in the month.
http://www.iraqslogger.com/index.php/post/7763/Iraq_Papers_Thu_Oil_Minister_to_be_Replaced_
Security moves included installing heavier checkpoints on the provincial borders with Dhi Qar Province, as well as increased patrols along the provincial frontier, the governor added.
Members of IraqSlogger’s network of Iraqi staff in Maysan contributed to this report but choose to remain anonymous for security reasons.

Iraqi forces in the province of Salah al-Din, north of Baghdad, conducted raids targeting an auto theft ring whose activities were allegedly providing vehicles for use in bombing attacks in the governorate.

Police in the al-Duz district, about 50 miles east of the provincial capital Tikrit, targeted the four individuals on Thursday who were reportedly selling stolen vehicles to groups linked to the al-Qa'ida in Iraq organization for use in vehicle-mounted bombing attacks.

The raids, which were launched after Iraqi police obtained intelligence information as to the site of the theft ring’s activity, led to the arrest of the four men, who were transferred to the local police headquarters for interrogation. Police also seized three stolen vehicles from the site.

The same day, Iraqi forces in the al-Belaj area, just north of Tikrit, recovered the corpse of a young man. The body bore signs of torture and gunshot wounds to the head and chest, security forces said. Security sources identified the man as Ali Shakir, a local resident, whom locals say may have been targeted for voicing opposition to the armed activities of the al-Qa'ida in Iraq organization in the area.

Also Thursday, a missile exploded in a residence in the al-Nafut area, about 25 miles north of Tikrit, killing two children inside and thereby leaving the parents childless. Security sources say that the missile was in storage inside the house when it detonated, killing an 11-year-old boy and 8-year-old girl. Locals told Slogger that the mother of the children was rendered unconscious in the blast and taken to hospital in Bayji. Security sources told Slogger that the owner of the home was linked to the so-called Islamic State of Iraq organization, and might have been keeping the missile in storage for use in a future IED attack.

Finally, the Salah al-Din governorate council has announced that it will form an independent media center in the provincial capital of Tikrit in order to investigate and publicize the workings of the provincial authorities in a bid to mitigate corruption in local governmental affairs, as well as to publicize the policies of the provincial governorate.

Members of IraqSlogger's network of Iraqi staff in Salah al-Din contributed to this report but choose to remain anonymous for security reasons.

Iraqi forces fanned out in an area near the Karbala-Babil border last week after five individuals were injured near the Iraqi city of al-Hindiya, south of Baghdad, when a dispute over a boys’ soccer match heated over into a clash between two local tribal groups.
Iraqi security forces intervened into the clashes in the al-Khayrat sub-district, outside the al-Hindiya area, which lies in Babil Province near the border with Karbala Province.
Forces arrested ten armed men as Iraqi forces clamped down on the fighting. Troops remained deployed in force in the area after the arrests in an effort to prevent the conflict from re-igniting, eyewitnesses told Slogger.

Security forces in the city of Karbala are on alert after a motorcycle rigged with explosives blew up near the al-Husayn Park in Karbala city. At least two people were killed in the blast on Friday, according, and at least ten injured. The motorcycle bombing attack came after police in the city of Falluja, in neighboring Anbar Province, imposed a curfew on motorcycles after a motorcycle-borne blast on Tuesday.

Members of IraqSlogger's network of Iraqi staff in Karbala contributed to this report but choose to remain anonymous for security reasons.

Iraqi forces in the northern province of Salah al-Din conducted raids in the al-Sharaqat district, about 20 miles north of Tikrit, after obtaining intelligence information on the whereabouts of wanted men hiding in houses in the area. Eight wanted men were arrested in the operations on Monday, security sources told Slogger, all reportedly linked with the so-called Islamic State of Iraq militant organization. The men were transferred to the area’s police directorate for interrogation.

The day before, Iraqi forces in the town of Bayji, north of Tikrit, discovered an IED-manufacturing workshop in a factory in the town’s industrial area on Sunday. The forces arrested the owner of the factory as well as seizing 45 IEDs and 8 kilograms of high-intensity explosives.

Members of IraqSlogger's network of Iraqi staff contributed to this report but choose to remain anonymous for security reasons.

Sources in the southern province of Karbala have told Slogger of rumors in the city that some members of the Karbala Provincial Council intend to dismiss the provincial police commander in order to bring back the former police commander.

Rumors, which IraqSlogger cannot confirm, suggest of movement in the provincial council to dismiss Maj. Gen. Jasim Muhammad, commander of Karbala police forces, and to bring back the former Karbala commander Ra’id Shakir Jawdat, who currently heads the police forces in Wasit Province.

Meanwhile, Iraqi forces in the city of Karbala, south of Baghdad, conducted a series of raids over the week of June, arresting scores of wanted suspects, including the former head of the provincial council.

Security forces detained Abd al-Ali al-Yasiri, the former president of the Karbala provincial council, on allegations of corruption and misuse of influence during his tenure, which ended with the accession of the incoming provincial council elected in the January 31 elections in Iraq.

In the course of the raids across Karbala city, Iraqi forces seized 57 artillery shells of varying sizes in operations in the al-Sina'i industrial sector, along with various other weapons and ammunition.

Sources in the Karbala security forces told Slogger that the 77 detainees captured in early June were arrested according to warrants issued by the Iraqi courts. Fourteen of the detainees are accused of dealing in narcotics in Baghdad’s Palestine Street area, with another 20 accused of participating in terrorist attacks, and at least 8 accused of murder and theft.
Members of IraqSlogger's network of Iraqi staff in Karbala contributed to this report but choose to remain anonymous for security reasons.